


Family

by Rachaelizame



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 17:36:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13128480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizame/pseuds/Rachaelizame
Summary: At first he was nothing more than a nuisance. But as always, things change.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for weatherman1101 over at tumblr.

Some days she couldn’t see any of his father in him. And that was a good thing, a very good thing. She held little affection for the man and was in no need of a reminder. Besides, she knew well enough that the King of Ferelden’s bastard son becoming public knowledge would be bad. And she had enough respect for him to not want that to happen.

So yes, most days she saw no Alistair in the boy. But then, some days… like now. When he hung upside down from a tree branch asking her if she could teach him to become a bat.

“Maybe one day. When you’re older.”

He pouted visibly, and she hid a smile as she turned away.

-

At first he had been a pure nuisance. All the annoying symptoms of pregnancy with no promise of payoff for months, maybe years depending on how long it would take her to find a way to use the old god soul buried inside him- which was half the reason she’d decided to have him in the first place. The other reason, of course, being Kallian. She’d never expected to form a true friendship with the Warden, but then she went and did it anyway.

It seemed she was doing many things she’d never planned.

She’d been purely annoyed by the boy at first, the only other emotion he’d evoked was slight curiosity at the newness of pregnancy, but even that hadn’t been particularly strong.

Holding him for the first time hadn’t evoked much either besides that mild curiosity again, a fact which she could tell annoyed the midwife apprentice she’d hired to help her, while the midwife herself had simply nodded at her and asked if she wanted to give the child to the local Chantry. Morrigan had openly scoffed at that. Even if the child hadn’t held the soul, she’d never send a child to that foolish place.

That had been what surprised the midwife and pacified the apprentice. Morrigan hadn’t bothered to correct the girl’s assumption.

-

It had taken weeks, and she still sometimes blamed the exhaustion of caring for a newborn for the fact that she’d allowed feelings to creep in. Staring down at the boy’s yet-to-change blue eyes as she nearly swayed from exhaustion, she’d… felt something.

She’d dismissed it at the time, but it kept returning. And she wasn’t fool enough not to recognize affection when she felt it, even if she’d rarely felt it before.

It was the moment the boy stumbled upon the word “Mama” when she truly lost any chance of detachment. Kieran had always called her by her name before, but he’d been playing with a few of the local children and found the word’s meaning. When one of the children’s mother brought him back to her, he’d excitedly called out his new word, and Morrigan had nearly dropped the tome she’d been studying.

She’d set it down gently instead, moving to take him in her arms. And when he’d smiled proudly at his learning, she’d nearly cried.

-

She’d begun prioritizing other tasks beside finding a use for the soul. She didn’t even notice herself doing it at first, and when she had, she’d carefully placed that knowledge in her mind to consider. The soul was not a part of her son, but it did affect him, and she didn’t know that she wanted to take it from him. After all, he’d never expressed any negative feelings toward the fact that his body was shared by an Old God.

And she was glad for that. Had he expressed those feelings, she would have needed to make a decision. She would have had to risk her other projects for one project, meaning she’d be saying his happiness was more important than her own.

She wasn’t ready to face that, because she knew well what choice she’d make. And the thought of doing so was… dangerous.

-

They spent much time in the forests of various countries, or in small villages. Places she’d readily admit she was most comfortable in, though she could handle larger cities when pressed to do so. She taught him everything he’d learn in one of their village lessons, and more. Her son was to have every opportunity he wanted, and wouldn’t be stopped by not knowing the basics.

She made certain he either knew everything he needed, or knew how to find it. Kieran took the lessons easily, seeming to enjoy the concept of learning. He was very bright, a trait she couldn’t easily claim only came from her. She knew that Alistair, while foolish and naive, had a good mind for learning and strategy. He could have been quite brilliant if he’d only put his mind to it.

So Kieran had both their intelligences, and, she was frustrated to notice, a touch of his father’s naivety. But she supposed that was only to be expected in such a small child. That trait only disappeared with hardship, something she was proud to acknowledge she’d helped him mostly avoid.

-

They’d come to Orlais when Kieran was five years old. She’d begun measuring time that way, in his age. They arrived to no fanfare, but a quietly accepting reception from the nobility. Morrigan had made it clear that Kieran was to be treated no differently from any other child, except for his immunity from their games, and when she’d proven herself a capable woman, it had been carefully agreed to.

No one mentioned her illegitimate son in anything other than gentle tones- fake, of course, but that had been the best to hope for.

-

She had the answer to a long-wondered question one day when she heard a small “oops” and the rush of a burst of icy magic. She sighed and stood, walking into the next room off her chambers.

Sure enough, a table had been frozen through by Kieran’s fledgling magic. She’d wondered whether he would take after her or his father in that matter, and it seemed she had her answer. He was a mage, like her. She felt a rush of pleasure at the fact, though she knew it really only made things more complicated now that she had to teach him magic and how to hide it as well as his usual lessons.

She’d begun those lessons that very day, teaching him how to tell when his early magic was about to manifest, and how to get away to a safe place where he could release it. The lessons on how to control it would come later.

-

And later they did. He took well to elemental spells, and, unlike her, to healing spells. She simply nodded. Good basic skills to have. She’d always regretted not being able to heal herself during battle beyond the basics. It was good he’d have it to keep himself safe.

Still, she hoped he’d never have to be in battle, but she wasn’t foolish enough to count on it. This world was far too chaotic, and people were too eager for a fight for her to simply tell him he would never need those skills. She knew well that they’d be useful in his future.


End file.
